Edmonton renovation contractor: CA$94 to CA$34 per lead, same budget
This contractor was paying CA$94 for every real lead. We kept the budget the same, paused the ad groups that never produced a call, added Performance Max and cut the searches that were wasting money. By mid-2026 it was bringing in 2.8 times the leads at CA$34 each, even though Google's own report claimed CA$14.79.
What happened
-64%
Cost per lead
CA$94 (Jan–Jun 2025) down to CA$34 (Apr–Sep 2026)
2.8×
Real leads
90 leads in 6 months up to 249 in the same length of time
Same
Ad spend
CA$8,470 before vs CA$8,355 after, over 6 months each
1 · What it looked like
The account when it reached me
The account spent about CA$1,400 a month on one Search campaign. In the first half of 2025 that bought 90 real leads (46 form submissions and 44 calls from ads), or CA$94 per lead. Several ad groups were spending without producing calls or forms, and there was no second campaign to reach people who were researching renovations but not yet searching for a contractor.
2 · What I noticed
Three ad groups had been spending every month without producing a single call or form. Nobody had caught it, because the account total still showed conversions. And nothing in the account reached homeowners who were still planning a renovation and hadn't searched for a contractor yet.
3 · What I changed
In order, in plain words
- Measured the account on real leads only: form submissions and calls from ads. Store visits, email clicks and button clicks were left out of every number in this case study
- Paused 3 Search ad groups that were spending without producing calls or forms
- Launched a Performance Max campaign with 37 assets (headlines, descriptions, images) built around renovation and remodeling services in Edmonton
- Moved budget between Search and Performance Max as the cost per lead of each settled, without raising total spend
- Added 22 negative phrase keywords at account level and tightened Search keywords around renovation-contractor intent
The account, as Google shows it
Real screenshots from the Google Ads account, client name blurred. Green rows are the leads I count. Amber rows are what Google also counts as “conversions”.
How these numbers were checked
- Source: the live Google Ads account, segmented by conversion action.
- Counted as leads: "Contact Us - Form Submit" and "Calls from ads".
- Not counted: email clicks, "Call us" button clicks and store visits.
- Before: Jan to Jun 2025, CA$8,469 spend, 46 forms + 44 calls = 90 leads.
- After: Apr to Sep 2026, CA$8,356 spend, 100 forms + 149 calls = 249 leads.
4 · What I learned
“Performance Max reports “store visits” as conversions, and they made this account look about twice as good as it was. I only trust calls and forms. Judged that way, the result is smaller but real: same budget, nearly three times the leads.”
What I'd do differently
I'd set store visits to "secondary" the day Performance Max launched, so the bidding only ever learned from calls and forms. It was left out of our reporting, but for a while Google was still counting it.
Details
Industry
Home Services & Contracting
Country
Canada
Duration
Jan 2025 to Sep 2026
Budget
CA$1.4k / Month
Tags
How I work
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